Is your Chocolate Scarier than your Halloween Costume?
This is the question the Not For Sale Campaign is asking this Halloween. According to them:
“70%
OF THE WORLD’S SUPPLY OF COCOA BEANS COMES
FROM
WEST AFRICA WHERE THERE ARE AN ESTIMATED
15,000
CHILD SLAVES WHO HARVEST THEM.”
So, as we get ready for Halloween and purchase chocolate for our little heroic fire-fighters, Disney princesses and lop-sided zombies, I believe we should think twice about what our money is actually going towards. Because Human Trafficking is not only sexual exploitation but also exists in many forms of slavery … Including the Cocoa Industry.
I have started working with “Not For Sale Campaign” here in Atlanta. It is a wonderful organization focused on ending slavery everywhere in every form. I felt like it was important for me to go ahead and get involved in my own community instead of waiting for my trip to start in January. Because my heart is already breaking, and badly, for these people. This is a part of my life now – not a sweet 4 month trip (which will be amazing, don’t get me wrong) – but I will be fighting this horrific industry until the end.
So with Halloween coming up and the annual candy fest with Trick or Treating, I would love for all of us to think twice about how to help out just a little. I will start by purchasing Fair Trade Chocolate.
Hershey’s is one of the scariest in the industry.
Hershey’s is America’s favorite chocolate brand, accounting for 42.5% of the US market.
According to the article “Time to Raise the Bar: The Real Corporate Social Responsibility for the Hershey Company”
“Much
of Hershey’s cocoa is sourced from West Africa, a
of Hershey’s cocoa is sourced from West Africa, a
region
plagued by forced labor, human trafficking, and
plagued by forced labor, human trafficking, and
abusive
child labor. Hershey’s does not have a system in place
child labor. Hershey’s does not have a system in place
to
ensure that its cocoa purchased from this region is not
ensure that its cocoa purchased from this region is not
tainted
by labor rights abuses.”
by labor rights abuses.”
However, in the last several years, major chocolate companies like Cadbury (owned by Kraft), Green & Black (owned by Cadbury/Kraft) and Ben & Jerry’s (owned by Unilever) have all made significant commitments to increase their purchases of Fair Trade Certified cocoa.
Hope these facts help! If you would like anymore information on the subject, please visit:
